Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) Shares Up 8.4% – Still a Buy?

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD)’s stock price rose 8.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $5.00 and last traded at $4.9650. Approximately 999,791 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 10,198,263 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $8.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.74.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $850.82 million, a P/E ratio of 32.69 and a beta of 0.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.18.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $122.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.22 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 8.70% and a negative return on equity of 15.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 19,295 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 3,406 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $39,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 83.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 15,594 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a commercial?stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines for gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. The company’s flagship product is linaclotide, marketed under the brand name LINZESS in the United States for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC). Through a strategic collaboration with Allergan (now part of AbbVie), Ironwood also commercializes linaclotide in select ex-U.S.